Memorial Day Weekend - or any good excuse to party

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Fellows,
What is on the grill or in the pot for this weekend? I'll post photos of my get-together this evening later on, but wanted to invite you all to put up photos, menus, and recipes.
 
Haven't thought food out yet, but that bottle of Woodford reserve is looking pretty nice right now.
Might smoke a pork shoulder for tomorrow....
 
Company gone, dishes are in the washer, everything put away and cleaned up. I took some phtos and will post them in the morning.

Menu was:
Aperitif - Moet & Chandon white star
Appetizer - Cilantro lime ceviche shrimp cocktail
Salad - Summer salad with white balsamic dressing.
Entree - Herb encrusted and Bacon wrapped prime fillet mignon with SSSS ( Stacy's superior steak sauce) - Served medium rare (of course).
Dinner wine - Cabernet sauvingnon
Vegetable - Gourmet grilled corn on the cob. ( not your mama's corn!)
Desset - Lime marinated Frazier stawawberries on pound cake, with french vanillia ice cream.
Digestif - Balvennie 21 year scotch

The SSSS ( named by my friend John) is something I created recently. It does not have a direct recipe, yet, but is a green peppercorn steak sauce ( not a BBQ sauce) with a bit of sweetness, a bit of tartness, a bit of spicy, and a bit of smoky. It has a bit of everything in a great steak sauce, tamerind, anchovie, tomatoe paste, Worchestershire, soy, Moshida's, a few specialty sauces, oils, capers (just about the same as green peppercorns), lime, orange, brown sugar, molassas, etc. Honestly, I have never tasted anything like it. The peppercorns/capers add to the visual look as well as add a lot to the flavor. My guests put it on the corn, as well as the fillet. John asked for a zip-lok bag and poured the rest of the sauce in the server into it to take home. I went into the kitchen and brought him a container with the rest of the batch from the pan on the stove.

The gourmet corn is done by preparing the ears and cutting them in half ( easier to plate a 4" ear than an 8" one).
Then I make the coating. It is basically a garlic butter with added olive oil. Then I add cracked black pepper, a variety of spices and dried ground veggies (cellery, bell peppers, onion,,etc.). This is mixed well, cooled until just barely solid, and the ear pieces covered in it. They are wrapped in foil tubes with three pieces in a sheet. Grill on a 500F ( hot) grill for about 15 minutes. When you flip the steaks the first time, add the corn.

I cut 1.5" fillets from the center of a whole prime tenderloin ( the rest will be 5 more great dinners for Judy and I). I wrapped each fillet with a thick strip of applewood smoked bacon, and secured it with two toothpicks. I made a butter/garlic/olive oil/truffel oil mix. Then I added a coarse Montreal steak seasoning with extra cracked black pepper to make a medium thick paste. The steaks are coated with this and left at room temp for two hours. The fillet were grilled on a hot (500F) grill for 10 minutes ... turning every 2.5 minutes. By turning the steaks often you get a more even cooking with the pink ending up side to side. Rotate them 90 degrees as you make the second turn so the grill char marks make a criss cross char pattern. Pull off at 120F internal temp (10 minutes will give you right at that). Let rest for 10 minutes while you pull off the corn.

It is very important that the grill must be pre-heated to 500F for a good 15 minutes and the steaks put on quickly to get a proper sear and seal in all the juices and flavor. Close the grill cover between the 2.5 minute turnings ... don't peak.
 
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That sounds like quite the feast!
And good choice on the whisky
I've always been an Islay fan, particularly lagavulin and Laphroaig. But a good Speyside is very hard to complain about.
 
I didn't take any pics but I grilled up some venison backstraps from my Christmas Day doe. I marinated them overnight in apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian seasonings.
 
Mr. Apelt, Those are the tastiest looking steaks I have seen In a good long while. Is there anything that you do not excel at? Have a wonderful week., Larry
 
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